The Sun. — London, England, 1864-06-27 00:00:00

ARMS TRO, :TWORTH, There is still nothing very decisive to record in the way of a clear final advantage of one of those competitors over the other. The verdict of one day's firing so often reverses the results gained the day before, and these are so likely to be in turn upset by experiments which are to come, that any attempt to give even an outline of each day's results would only add to the confusion of a confused subject, and involve a question which the erratic and contradic tory action of the committee renders more involved each day. The trials as regards firing for range and accuracy of the light 12-pounders have, as our readers know, been brought to a conclusion, but a great deal yet remains to be done before the entire official programme is gone through, and the guns are delivered to the competitors for a kind of sup plementary trial, in which both Sir William and Mr. Whitworth will be allowed to show off the powers of their ordnance in any specially favourable I,glit they may choose. The latest competition with these 12-pounders was with shell —corn me a, segment, and shrapnel —against mantelets and targets, and to show the effect of accidental bursting of shell—that is, shell bursting 100 yards in front of troops, instead of, as they ought to burst, at 20 or 25 yards. These trials have been of the last importance in eliciting the destructive effects of each gun, and that and the question of endurance are really the main points to be solved by this con test. The value of a field-gun may be estimated in a great measure by its power of throwing a destruc tive shell effectively. Its performances with solid shot are so secondary to this important result as to be in a measure almost beside the question. The mtrvellous excellence of Mr Whitworth's field-piec e as a solid shot gun has never admitted of question, any more than that shell firing used to be its weak point. Colonel Boxer has, however, designed a shell (very similar in its general principles to that now in use among the Federals, who, Colonel Boxer asserts, have taken his idea) which seems to suit Mr Whitworth's gun admirably. Certainly, the results which have been obtained during recent practice n do the highest credit to Colonel Boxer's invention, which is most ingeniously constructed to get over the difficulty which the narrow diameter of Mr. Whitworth's projectile offered to its containing an efficient bursting charge at all. At the same time we mast impress upon our readers the necessity of septrating in their ideas the performances of Mr. Weitworth's gun from those of Colonel Boxer's shell, in so far as that if the Boxer shell is better and more destructive than the Armstrong segment shell, it is only a proof of the superiority of shells not of guns, as the Mixer shell can be fired from either, and would, if anything, be more eaeLy adapted to the Armstrong gun than the Whitworth, and for these reasons :—The Armstrong fires a rather short, cone-headed, cylindrical shell; this cylindrical form enables it to hold a large bursting charge in the centre, and round this are built or placed little rough cast iron segments of a circle, which give its name to this destructive shell. The Whitworth shell, on the contrary, from its very narrow diameter and hexagonal shape, is not easy to adapt to a centre bursting charge, or to the iron segments. Colonel Boxer has, Therefore, designed a thin cast iron shell, which he fills with leaden bullets, putting either the time or percussion fuse on the top, which leads down to the bottom of the shell, where a small exploding charge of powder is placed. If the shell is to be broken up and serced its pieces with destructive effect this ex ploding charge is 12 drachms; if the bullets are wanted to go far it is only 6 drachms. With the later small charge the shrapnel bullets are just blown out of the cast-iron shell case, which drops - to the ground, while the bullets sweep on in a gradually extending circle, with all the force which they have derived tram their original discharge from the can non's mouth. Thus, then, Colonel Boxer fires a sort of iron blunderbuss from the gun, which is dis charged either by the time or by the percussion fuse on meeting any obstacle, and sends its hail of ballets forward. When used for short distances, however, the 12 drachms charge is preferred, which is enough to break the shell case and add its ragged fragments to the general havoc of the round bullets. If this principle was used for the Armstrong gun, the greater diameter of its shell would enable it always to use the full bursting charge, while a greater number of circular bullets could naturally be got into a circular shell than into a sire-sided one. The use of a varying bursting, charge is open to most grave objections in actual warfare. The idea of measuring the charges into a shell in the hurry and hot blood of actin is as much out of the question as Sir William's idea of filling his common shells with the aid of a rammer and mallet, which was objected to and stopped by the Committee on Thursday as a thing which, like the altered charges of shell, it would be impossible to use in actual service. The theory of the Boxer shell having a light charge to part its bullets without at all depriving them of the force of their onward flight from the gun is idene tint with the theory of Sir William's segment shell, and, as we have said, with the theory of the F, deral shell. The shrapnel shell of Colonel Boxer very perfect indeed, but in its present adaptation to the Whitworth gun it has some disadvantages which may very likely be capable of adjustment, bat which in the present state of this keen compe tition require notice. Colonel Boxer has no more final:y perfected his percussion fuse than Sir William Armstrong has his fuse fcr time. When Colonel Boxer fires his shells against the ground in front of troops many of them turn out " blind"— that is, do not explode at all. When they do so explode, however, their effect in ricochet firing is greater tbau Sir William's segment shell. The spherical form and superior density of Colonel Beher's bullets enable them to glance upwards after bursting some times in t h e right direction with murderous effect. Very often, h owever, they go in quite a wrong direction, for the Whi tworth shot after touching the earth is rather erratic in its ricochet, and if its percussion shel ex plodes it m a y throw its bullets to the right or left or high iat o th e air according as the shell glances. This failure of explosion, which, though not frequent, yet som e . titres, to say the least, occurs, has led Colonel Bexer often to prefer his time fuse, which, as corns pared with percussion, is very objectionable in action, as the difference of cutting or piercing the fuse by one-tenth of a seconds—that is, the thickness of the edge of a penknife —more or Ices would make a difference of 40 yards too far or too short of where the shell ought to explode. Is it reasonable to expect that either officers or men can attilin such infinitesimal accuracy in actual battle? partial failure of the percussion fuse no doubt is capable of adjustment, but ail we have to say now is that it must be so adjusted before the shell can be considered to Le what further care and prac tice no doubt might easily make it—a perfect shell, It is, perhaps, to overcome these temporary defects that the Committee have tried many of their late experiments against wooden screens in front of the targets, which burst the percussion shell before the target is reached, and thus insure as far as possible the non-failure of Colonel Boxer's fuses against the ground, and also guard against the erratic ricochet of Mr. Whitworth's projectile, rind the contents which Colonel lister puts This arrangement brings to mind, aga in, what we have before stated, that Col. Boxer has ) more perfected hi s percussion fuse than Sir has is time fuse. A large number of Sir William's time fuses have lit in th e gun, and this premature eap l ot ,i oa is a most grave defect, which must be doe either to the fuse itself or the wear of tees gun. The injury it does the gun may he disre garded, though it i s by means triEing, but th e mis chief it would i n fli c t on t roo p s i f firing over their into it. bells or operating upon their (l inks co Ei,;IA of for a nrimlat. If the fu3o is not in fault, '.he shunt gun in which this defect has been most .313s , frvab'e is evidently letting the gases caused by the explosion pass the shell and so burn its foe. It thi3 occasional failure can be prevented for the fteure, well and good. If it cannot, then either the us e itself is dangerously wrong or the shunt gun is giving the first well-marked signs of wear which may soon render it unserviceable. In the practice against the rope mantelets, which were made after the pattern of those used by the Russians to protect their embrasures, and were plaited mets of rope four I :leeta thick, the shrapnel bullets from the Baer ;mot be lost shell constantly penetrated, while, as might be ex pected, the rough iron segments of the Armstrong shell as constantly and signally failed to do so. In making the fragments of the shell and its bullets or segments ricochet upwards from the ground the Boxer shrapnel again had a clear advantage, the dense spherical bullets glancing easily from the earth, while the rough iron segments of the Arm strong cut into the ground and soon stopped them selves. So also in trials for accidental bursting too soon in front of troops the Boxer shell again had a clear advantage—an advantage, however, which must be considered in connexion with the following qualifying statement—ln exploding his shell at short distances in front of troops, or the targets which represented them, Colonel Boxer used his large c h arge of 12 drachms in order to get the greatest effect from the pieces of his broken case. At the long distances he used the light charge in order to get the greatest effect from his bullets shot out of the case. When this alteration of charges in shells which were supposed to burst too soon acci dentally came to the knowledge of Sir William he at once protested against it, and demanded fresh trials, or, at all events, that a note should be ap. pended to the results, showing that varying charges had been used to accomplish them. The Committee, after long deliberation, have, however, decid e d th at in future varying charges must not be used, and that experiments shall be made with the high and low charged Boxer shell from Mr. Whitworth's gun, and if the results given by the different charges are material, a note to that effect is to be appended to the returns of the Whitworth shell practice made by such means. It is the opinion of many that these gun trials should not have been conducted at the same time with the trial of the new and expe rimental shell of Colonel Boxer; but we confess we cannot regret anything which has brought to light a missile likely to be so valuable to the service and the country as Colonel Boxer's shell promises to become. With cominon shell—that is, a thin case of cast iron, filled with powder, lit from the front by a percussion or time fuse, the Whitworth gun was very distinctly beaten by both of Sir William's. Mr. Whitworth, to a certain extent, frankly admits this victory, and explains it clearly enough by say ing that an error of judgment was committed in making the common shell half a diameter too long, which has, to a certain degree, spoilt its shooting . . We give this explanation or excuse as we gave Sir William's about the steel tube of his breech-loader not expanding under the explosion of high proof charges, as it is said it would have done had the whole tube been of wrought coiled iron. But while, for the satisfaction of the competitors, we make their apologies public, it must not be forgotten that they are excuses to which both the public and the committee will wisely turn a deaf ear, and look to results alone. Both competitors had the most ample time to mature their preparations and elaborate their weapons to the utmost, and by those which they have now at last put forward they must be content to stand or fall. After the trials with common shell were over each competitor was allowed to fire shell after his own fashion, through embrasures at old guns sur rounded with dummy figures and with empty limbers in the rear. In this contest the Arm strong shunt gun gained a marked superiority. The practice with the 70 pounder has now ad vanced to a stage at which the experiments against the iron plated Warrior target have com menced. The trials with the large guns, if we may so far miscall the 70 pounders, which have led up to these armcur plate experiments, have included the first stages of firing for range and accuracy, during which both the shunt and the Whitworth were as nearly as possible equal in ac curacy, though at 3,000 yards range the Whitworth had an advantage of nearly 200 yards. A breech loader of Sir William's, not cn the old vent-piece system but one more recently invented, which opens the breech at the side with sliding wedges, was included in these trials; but we may dismiss the performances of this piece altogether, as it was on Friday very wisely withdrawn from competition. Thus, as far as we yet know, tha second system of breech loading for large guns has for the present been given up by Sir William. The trials against the Warrior target took place on Thursday and Friday, and in this competition a decisive victory was looked forward to for the Whitworth gun, which from the very small diameter of its shot _ - has generally been found most effective for —at leest penetrating the armour plates if it did not damage them much. Contrary to all expectation, however, at this contest Sir William's shunt gun achieved a decisive victory over the Whitworth, both with shut and shell, beating it in the ratio of at least two to one. The length to which this notice has extended precludes our giving the details on this occasion; but we shall take the earliest oppor tunity of referring fully to this great stage of the competition which is likely to be the most decisive, as it is beyond all question the most important, of them all. upon this movement to say that there are but few military men in the North who do not consider it fraught with much greater danger than any which the army has yet encountered, and no friends of the South who do not fervently hope that nothing will prevent General Grant from attempting it. Reinforcements continue to be forwarded, but they are chiefly raw recruits and emigrants who have not been six months in the country —men who doubtless do not lack courage, but who have not acquired the habits of discipline or the professional pride of the trained soldier. And however nume rous these reinforcements may be, it is not probable that they more than half fill up the successive de pletions which the army of the Potomac has suffered during the last five weeks. The frightful loss of life in every battle does not account for more than 20 or 30 per cent. of the 100,000 men who have disappeared from the effective force of the army since the passage of the Rapidan. To these have to be added the wounded who fell in fair fight under the shot and shell of the enemy, the prisoners, the deserters, the three-year Volunteers whose term has expired, the tattered and attenuated remnants of whose once complete regiments continue to march through this city. Bat whether reinforced in whole or in part, General Grant has but little superiority in numbers over General Lee ; while the latter has an immense advantage not only in position, but in everything that goes to elevate the morale and in crease the heroism of an army. In anticipation of the next battle, news of which is hourly expected, the military hospitals of this city have been cleared of every man fit to bear re moval to his home in the north or west, and all preparations made to receive from 6,000 to 10,000 men. Baltimore has not the accommodation for the wounded to be found at Washington, which a gentleman just arrived from that city describes as being one huge hospital ; but such ac commodation as it has is kept in constant requi sition. The hospitals are situated in various parts of the town, and tax to their utmost the professional resources of the place. I visited one of them a few days ago, immediately a: ter a clearance had been made of the most advanced cases of convalescence, and saw as much human suffering in the space of half an hour as I care to see again in a lifetime. Ten houses —one of them a large hotel situated on one side of Camden-street, and six, including a piano forte manufactory, directly opposite—have been hired by the Government, connected one with the other, and form the chief military hospital of Balti more. The wards are clean and airy, and every pos sible adjunct of health and comfort is provided for . the wounded. Such as remained on the day of my visit were for the most part fatal cases, or cases of which the surgeons had bat faint hopes. There were men who had lost legs and arms, and men who were awaiting resignedly —and many of them un consciously —the inevitable amputation that might or that might not save their lives, and who seemed to have lost all interest in the war and the world, and in everything around them, save perhaps in the friendly care of some sympathising nurse, who smoothed their pillows or offered them their drink or their medicine. There were some who had the crowns of their heads carried off by fragments of bursting shells, and yet survived ; some shot through the lungs and certain to die, but yet thinking by a look any kind-hearted surgeon who ventured to tell them, against his convictions, that there was yet hope ; others whose jaws had been torn away, some shot in the foot, some in the hand, some through the shoulder, and some in the head —the ball in one in stance not being merciful enough to take life, but to leave insanity behind it. The rooms were tastefully adorned with the Federal gag, vases of flowers, and sometimes with aquariums, or Wardian cases of ferns, and the walls hung with portraits, among which that of Jenny Lind was most conspicuous, and appeared in every room. These gifts were contributed by the nurses, all of whom were Northern and principally New England ladies, who had read of Florence Nightingale, and, inspired by her example, had de voted their time, their kindness, their care, and their money to the relief of suffering humanity, and the elevation of the common hospital to the comfort and the dignity of a home. Among these ladies was cne in deep mourning, whose husband married her two years ago, started from the altar to the battle-field, and returned no more. Another, who paid two visits daily to the hospital, was not exactly a nurse, but did something of a nurse's duty in her own peculiar way. She was about 60 years of age, scrupulously neat in her attire, was dressed in decent black, car ried a basket of crkes on her arm, and seemed as if she had been permitted to come into the hospital to carry on her humble trade among the soldiers. She stopped at every bed, or at every chair in which a soldier sat up reading, and offered her frugal ware, looking hurt if it were not accepted. But the good woman was no merchant. She made the cakes herself fresh every morning, aed they were her free will offerings to the man. It was all she could afford, and it was the only way that suggested itself to her mind in which she could be of service. It was supposed she had lost a husband, or more probably a son, in the recent battles, but as she said nothing about it and seemed to shun conversation, no one cared to invade the secrecy in which she chose to envelope herself. In addition to her cakes, she carried in her basket a collection of newly gathered roses ; and when in her peregrinations through the wards she came to a bedside of which the occupant was palpably doomed to rise no more alive, she placed a rose upon his pillow if he slept; or, if he were awake, put it into his hand, with a look of motherly commiseration, and passed on. And who shall deny the wealth of pity in her gentle action, or assert that in her humble ministrations there was no portion of those heavenly characs teristies which we ascribe to the angels ? Although the ladies of Baltimore, with this one exception, left to the ladies of a more Northern and Eastern latitude the duty of attending to the wants and cheering the last hours of the Federal wounded, it must not be supposed that their sym pathies were not as abundant as those of their Northern sisters. The sympathies existed, but they flowed in another direction. There were no Con federate wounded to be cared for, but there were Confederate prisoners in Fort Delaware and other places in the vicinity who required the kindly atten tion of those who believe that they suffered in a righteous cause. The military autocrat of Balti more—who rules as stringently es Butler before him, though he may seo treason and disloyalty in the expression of sympathy with Southern captives, has not yet deemed it expedient to say so, or to pro hibit the good Samaritans of his satrapy from feed ing the hungry and clothing the naked, even if the hungry and the naked be the enemies of his Govern ment. The good Samaritans therefore —all of them ladies—having full command of their husbands' purses for this object, if for no other, no sooner hear of the arrival of a detachment of Southern prison ers than they meet to apportion the wants of the captives among them, and to provide them, each according to her means, with the clothing and other coraforte they may require to render captivity less irksome. One lady, three days ago, clothed 100 prisoners at her own expense ; another provided for 50, another for 20, and many more provided for two or three. They were not allowed to deliver their bounty personally, but were permitted to re ceive the epistolary thanks of the recipients. The letters of the prisoners are in every style of com position, from the ungrammatical to the correct, from the business-like to the romantic, but all con vey the same manly gratitude and the same un wavering confidence in the fuel triumph of the came for which they have suffered so much and are ready to suffer to the end. The Semaphore of Marseilles states that the at mospherical variations which have so prevailed during the last month have now ceased, and that summer has regularly set in, Daring the last few days the thermometer has stood at from 26 to 28 deg, Centigrade (79 to 80 Fahrenheit), [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Pills. Sick Head aches.—Thousands suffer from this worrying annoyance when the body and brain ere depressed by warm, damp weather. Holloway's purifying pills Present a ready means of cure for indigestion, biliousness, faintness, and flatu• lency. In debilitated constitutions and nervous habits these pills are the best restoratives —they correct all the unpleasant torpidily of the liver, they remove distension, and never fail to obviate all obstructions of the bowels, and to induce their regular action. For all abdominal ailments Holloway's pills are the safest possible medicine—they at once give easy and comfort, and naturally strengthen the whole series of organs concerned in the process of indiges tion; will be found useful in every household, Her Majesty's screw steam sloop Racer, now in commis sion at Woolwich, was on Saturday hauled out of the inner basin and received her complement of 130 men and boys, and a detachment of the Royal Marine Light Infantry, in readiness for sea. The following officers have joined Commander Isaac N. T. &Wei (November 13th, 1854), Lieut. W. E. Darwall, lately of the flagship Nile, on the North American and West India stations'; Surgeon Andrew M'Clure, M.A., from the Royal Marine Artillery at Fort Cumberland. Mr George W. Muir, paymaster, promoted, on paying off the Ardent; Mr Samuel M. Spry, master ; Mr Hogg, Mr Jenner, and Mr Hoar have also joined. The Admiralty yacht Black Eagle, Staff Commander Whillier, recently returned from the Danish waters, having laid in stores for a three months' cruise, got up steam, and sailed from Woolwich on Saturday morning for Norway. Her Majesty's steam storeship Supply, Staff Commander Bawden, has arrived at Woolwich, laden with a cargo come pleting the residue of the garrison stores left at Corfu after the departure of the troops. Capt. Bawden, who has been suffering from teVere rheumatic fever, was on Saturday re moved in a cot from his ship to the Royal Naval Infirmary at Woolwich, and is progressing favourably. The War Department steamer Lord Panmure, Master Commander Moore, returned to Woolwich on Saturday laden with platforms, shot, and general stores, from Ports mouth, whither she sailed on the previous Sunday with a full cargo of heavy balks of timber to supply the new labo • ratory, under the superintendence of Capt. Bailey. Thus the two shipments, discharges, and double voyage were completed in about 140 hours. The Caspar, the first of the fleet of vessels taken up this year by the Admiralty for the conveyance of Russian hemp to Chatham Dockyard, has arrived at that establishment from St. Petersburg, and has commenced discharging her cargo alongside the dockyard. The Racoon, 22, screw corvette, Capt. Count Gleichen, sailed from Spithead, on her northern cruise, on Saturday, Lieut, Prince Alfred rejoining from leave previous to the corvette weighing her aachor. The Prince, accompanied by the Prince of Wales and Prince Louis of Hesse, arrived at the Queen's private station in the Royal Clarence-yard, Gosport, from Windsor, at 10 45 a.m.., where, on alighting, the Royal Princes were received by Major-Gen. Lord Wm. Paulet, C,8., Admiral Sir M. Seymour, G.C.8., Rear-Ad miral Harry Edgell, C. 8., Capt. Scott, C.B. (aide-de-camp to the Queen), Col. Thackwell (Assist. Adjutant-General), and other officers. Their Royal Highnesses immediately embarked on board the Fire Queen steam yacht, Staff. Com mander Paul, which conveyed them out to Spithead, and transferred them to the Racoon, lying at anchor with the Channel fl-et, but with steam up in readiness to start on her voyage. Soon afterwards a signal was made from the Racoon to the Edgar, flagship of the Admiral commanding the Jhaunel squadron, that "the Prince of Wales would be glad to see Admiral Dacres on board the Racoon." The Admiral at once went on board the corvette. At 3 p.m. the Racoon weighed her anchor, and, after steaming about the Channel fleet for some little time, stood out to see by the eastern channel, with the Fire Queen in attendance. Off the Warner light-ship the engines were stopped, and the Prince of Wales and Prince Louis of Hesse, taking leave of Prince Alfred, left her, re-embarked on board the Fire Queen, and returned to Portsmouth harbour, landing at the Royal Clarence Victualling-yard, and thence proceeding by spe cial South Western train for Windsor, via Basingstoke, at 430 p.m. In accordance with the wish expressed by the Prince of Weiss, no public honours of any kind were paid him beyond the attendance of the chief military and naval authorities at the Royal Clarence-yard. The inhabitants of Portsmouth, however, considering themselves free from any official trammels or etiquette, decked out their Victoria Pier, at the entrance to the harbour, gaily with flags, and cheered most lustily as the Fire Queen steamed in and out of the harbour, the Prince of Wales lifting his hat repeatedly in answer to the crowd assembled on the pier. The Channel fleet remains at Spithead, awaiting orders from the Admiralty. The experimental squadron, consisting of the Research, 4, 1,253 tons, 200 horse power, the En terprise, 4, 993 tons, 160 horse power, iron cased frigates, and the 'Wolverine, 21, 1,703 tons, 400 horse power, arrived at the Nore on Friday evening from their cruise in the North Sea, in order to be joined by the Fawn, 17, 750 tons, 100 hot- power, and the paddlewheel steamer Salamis 855 tone, 250 horse power, before proceeding on particular ser vice. On Saturday evening, in accordance with orders re.. ceived at Chatham by telegraph from the Admiralty, the Wolverine and Salamis proceeded to the Down, where they will be joined by the remainder of the squadron. The Enter prise was occureed nearly the whole of Saturday in coaling. The Fawn has shipped the whole of her guns, shot, shell, and powder, and the officers recently appointed to her have joined and taken up their commissions, and she will be ready to take her departure during the present week. The whole of the vessels will rendezvous at the Downs, where they will join the ships composing the Channel fleet, under the orders of Admiral Dacres, C,8., and await the final instructions of the Admiralty. The contractors' trial of the engines of the screw steam frigate Ocean took place outside Plymou h breakwater on Saturday last. Her keel was laid at Devonport in Aug. 1860, for a wooden line-of battle ship, to carry 100 guns, but on the 30th of June, 1861, she was ordered to be "con verted" into an iron-cased frigate, mounting 34 guns. The Ocean was accordingly lengthened 20 feet amidships; her stem and stern were altered. She was launched on the 9th of March, 1863, and has since been protected with iron plates and fitted with bilge pieces at Keyham. This frigate is now classed with the Caledonia, Royal Alfred, Royal Oak, and Prince Consort, all of about 4,000 tons, and her engines and machinery, built by Messrs Maudslay, Sons, and Field, are precisely like those of the last named vessels, with the exception only that the pitch of the Ocean's screw is 22ft 6in, while that of the Prince Consort is 25ft. The trials of the Prince Consort's engines took place on the 23d, 24th, and 25th of September last year, and were reported at the time. The Ocean left Hamoaze at 9in the morning, in charge of Capt. 'William Edrnonstone, C. 8., chief of the steam reserve. There was a numerous company on board, including Rear-Admiral Thomas N. C. Symonds, C. 8., superintendent of the dockyard, Mr. Maudshs y , and Mr. Herbert Maudslay. The trial was superintended on the part of the Government by Mr James Steil, assistant engineer at Keyham, and Mr William A Dinnen, inspector of machinery afloat ; and for the contractors by Mr War rener. The weather was fine, wind being from the ti .N. W., with a force of from 4to 5. The sea was moderately smooth. The temperature in the stoke-hole was about 10.), and on deck 65. Under full boiler power the mean of six runs at the measured mile gave 12 . 895 knots; revolutions, 58 per minute ; vacuum, 251. Under half boiler power the mean of four runs was 10.691 knots; revolutions, 471 ; vacuum, 261. These results are considered sufficiently satisfactory to prevent the necessity of any further trial. There were no hot bearings, and all the machinery appears to be in perfect order. The speed attained does no.: equal that of the Prince Consort's in September last, being 2:6 less, but that frigate was not then fitted with bilge pieces, and, not being so deeply laden, drew 51 inches less aft than the Ocean. The screw steam-sloop Cordelia, 11, was placed in com mission at Davenport on Friday with a complement of 130 men. She will receive draughts of seamen, marines, and boys to-day, and be stored forthwith for the hame station temporarily. The sloop is now in the Prince's dock, where her valves will be overhauled and bottom cleaned. The whole of the troops at Alciershott turned out for a field-day on Friday, under the command of Lieut.-General Sir John Pennefather, K.C.8., and proceeded to the com mon, near the Royal Pavilion. After marching past the division took grcund to the westward, and formed in order of battle on the high ground south of the common to attack an advancing enemy, supposed to be occupying the village of Cove, with his right resting on Pyestock and his left on Cove-common. 'I he heavy brigade of cavalry, under com • mend of Col. Darby Griffith, consisting of the Carabineers, the Royal Dragoons, and the Scots Greys, commenced the fight. They advanced in line of contiguous columns in close order at a trot, followed by the light brigade, under the command of Col. Soame Jenyns, and consisting of the 13th and 14th Hussars. The heavy brigade was accompanied by a half battery of Royal Horse Artillery on either fl ink, and the light brigade by a half battery similarly disposed. The heavy brigade deployed into line on the right squadron of the Royals, the batteries of this brigade taking up position in advance of the right and left fronts, and opening fire. Having aroused the enemy, the artillery limbered up, and the brigade advanced at a gallop, accompanied by the guns. Tae Hussar brigade, whi c h h a d d ep l oye d i nto line during the above movements, advanced at a gallop and halted. The heavy brigade then retired by sections of threes from the right of regiments, and reformed line in rear of the Hussars. The heavy brigade next advanced, and the light retired by open column of troops from the left of the line. The heavy brigade halted, and the artillery again threw in several rounds. The h eavy b r i ga d e then re ti re d .by open column of troops from the right at a trot, thus clearing the front of the infantry and artillery, who were in position, forming three lines, The Royal Artillery commenced a heavy cannonade, supported by file firing, from General Taylor's brigade, General Russell's brigade advanced in line, and halted close to General Taylor's, thus forming funr ranks, the latter kneeling, and both throwing in a tremendous file fire, While the artillery pounded away without intermission. The enemy fell back; a few more combined and well -ex9cuted movements completed his disorder; and soon he was beating a hasty retreat to the westward, hotly pursued by the victorious troops until they were lost to the sight of the visitors. The whole of the manoeuvres were rapidly and skilfully executed. The division returned to quarters about 1 o'clock. By direct'on of the authorities at the War Department, a series of experiments will be carried out at Chatham dur ing the present summer by the officers and men attached to the Royal engineer establishment in order to test the merits of the new description of pontoon, similar to that in use in the Austrian army, which it is proposed to introduce into the English service. The superiority claimed for the Austrian pontoon is its increased strength and buoyancy. It is found to be far more portable than the ordinary Blanshard pontoon which has been adopted in the corps of Royal Eagineers. It can, besides, be turned to use by an army when on the march and in the field—an advantage not possessed by the Blanchard pontoon, which, from its size and unwieldy train and proportions, causes tle transport of the pontoon train to be attended with considerable difficulty. The experi- A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held on Fri day at the Gray's inn Coffeehouse, Holborn, Mr Boyle in the chair, for the purpose of considering a bill for autho rising the Rhymney Railway Company t& make and main tain their Cardiff and Caerphilly and other railways; also a bill for authorising the Rhymney Railway Company to make and maintain lines of railway to join the Brecon and Merthyr Tydvil Junction Railway, and the Merthyr, Tredegar, and Abergavenny Railway, and the Rumney Railway respectively ; and a bill to enable the Brecon and Merthyr Tydfil Junction Railway Company to construct new lines between their authorised lines and the Rumney and Rhymney Railways, and to connect the Rumney and Rhymney Railway, and between the Rumney Railway and Caerphilly and Llantwitfardre, and to join the Taff Vale, the Llantrissant and Taff Vale, and the Rhymney Railway, and new lines to join the Great Western and Monmouth shire Railways, and to raise further moneys. Mr Roy, the solicitor, having read the heads of the bills, The CHAIRMAN moved formal resolutions approving them. Mr AUSTIN seconded the resolutions, which were adopted, and the proceedings terminated. GREAT INDIAN PENINSULA.. The adjourned half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Friday at the London Tavern, Mr W. J. Hamilton in the chair. Mr Watt, the secretary, read the notice of adjournment to receive the audited statement of accounts, an abstract of which has appeared in the Sun. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the audited accounts for the half• year ending the 31st of Dee. 1863, said they fully bore out the correctness of the statement laid before the proprietors at the last meeting by the directors. There was only one point to which he would advert—from the Ist of July to the end of Demmber, 1863, they had paid for compensation £23,700. Were it not for that serious item their net receipts wculd have stood in a more favourable position as compared with corresponding half years, than ever they did in any previous half-year. (Hear, hear.) That large amount of compensation was chiefly for damage to cotton exposed during the monsoon, and to unfortunate fires on the line. The proprietors might depend that the directors both here and in India had taken every precaution in their power to prevent those fires in future. The habit of the natives sending uni ressed cotton to the railway had been the cause of much loss, which had resulted in an order against carrying it in that state—and they had put on a very heavy additional price to cover the risk. They had at times been obliged to refuse unpressed cotton altogether. Fixed presses were now being erected at stations on the upper part of the line, so that they hoped soon to have a much larger quantity of cotton brought to them in a proper state for conveyance oNer the railway. The resolution was then unanimously adopted, and a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors concluded the proceedings. INDIAN BRANCH. The half-yearly meeting of this railway company was held on Friday at the London Tavern, the Marquis of Tweeddalo in the chair. The report was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report, said the undertaking was for the purpose of establishing a permanent light system of railways in India. Their com pany was the first that had undertaken to make rail ways without a guaranteed rate of interest. All the railways that had been guaranteed were subjected to Government c introl, delay, interruption, and increased expense. The terms upon which they carried on their ope rations did not allow of interference with their works, or limit their dividend to 5 per cent. Their engineer, Mr Wilson, had returned to England for the benefit of his health, and he was glad to see him in the room, (Hear.) He thought the Government were right in waiting for the working of the Nulhattee line before conceding to the com pany the whole of the lines in Oude and Rohilcund. The Government had undertaken to supply the land, the road, and bridges, with the exception of the bridge to Moorsha bad. The late Governor. General, Lord Elgin, had visited the line when in course of construction, and had expresses his approval of the plan and works. The Deputy-Governor of Bombay had also inspected it, and, finding E verything complete, agreed that it should be opened in January last for traffic. The receipts to March 31 amounted to £1,650, and the expenses to £6BO, having £970, which was equivalent to 5 per cent. on their outlay of £2,300 per mile, which was the cost to them when the line was completed in all re spects. The company were to have 796 miles conceded to them in the rich, productive, and populous district of Oude and Rohilcund. They were of easy construction, and the climate was well suited to the cultivation of most valuable produce for home consumption. The best districts had been selected by the Government for those cheap lines, which would not only greatly dovelope the resources of those districts, but prove important feeders to the main line of the East Indian Railway between Benares and Delhi. Mr WILSON, the engineer in chief, gave an account of the company's proceedings in India. The receipts on the Nulhattee line for the three months it was open gave a net return of 51 per cent on the capital, hut this was no criterion of what it would be when it was in operation a longer time. It was difficult to divert the traffic from the old route, but since they had established through booking between Cal cutta and Moorshabad, and vice versa, the traffic had greatly increased. He had received a letter, dated the 16th of last month, from which it appeared that the goods traffic alone for seven days on the Nulhattee line amounted to £122, and he had no doubt that the goods traffic on the Indian lines would equal the passenger traffic. The principle upon which their system rested was economy, lightness, stiffness, in obtaining the same strength with half the weight of material judiciously put together. The carriages for con veying 200 persons weighed about 7i tons, bat on the ordi nary construction the dead weight of the carriages would be four times as much, or 30 tons. The same result was ob tained in conveying goods ; therefore a heavy engine was not required, and a light one was adopted. The Govern ment subsidy of £lOO per mile per annum for 20 years was equivalent to £1,350 per mile, which, added to £2,:.00 for the Nulhattee line, or to £2,650 for the Oude and Rohilcund lines, gave the total cost of them per mile. On the Nul hattee line the subsidy was ( quivalent to 21 per cent. per annum for 20 years, and the net traffic for the short time it had been opened 3'16 per cent., even without a junction with Moorshabad, as the people had to cross the river to and from the railway. But in the Oude and Rohilcund dis tricts the traffic would be far greater than on the Nulhattee line. There were 23 coach companies on the road between Cawnpore and Lucknow, from which they could form some idea of what the traffic would be on their line, which would run all the way by the side of the road. In Lucknow there were 350,000 inhabitants, and in Fyzabad beyond it there were 2.50,000 inhabitants. The whole district was more densely populated than any part of Europe, and there was ample traffic to pay them a vary large dividend. There could be no doubt that railways economically constructed in ludic( would pay handsomely. Mr DENT, in seconding the motion for the adoption of the repoe, explained that the Government gave the company the land for the railway, and a subsidy of £lOO a mile per annum for 20 years, which was equal to £1,300 in cash. This was given in lieu of making the roads for the branch railway company, and that was about the average cost to the Government of rn- king the ordinary roads. This was done in cases where the Government had no road to give the company. The concession for the lines in Oude and Rohil cund was agreed to be given them by the late lamented Governor-General of India, Lord Elgin. They had no doubt that final terms would be come to, and that the sub sidy for those lines would be granted. The concession was for 99 years. After some observations by Mr Sheward, Mr Powell, and Mr Turnbull, as to the favourable prospects of the under taking, resolutions were passed adopting the report; autho rizing the directors to barrow £lOO,OOO at 5 per cent on THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA, (From the Times Cor respondent.) BALTIMORE, June 13. A story is told in Baltimore by a gentleman Ns ho was recently in Richmond, that the Southern Pre. sident was asked in his presence how soon he thought the war would end ? Placing his hand upon the head of a little boy, not five yeare of age, Mr. Devils replied," Not till this child is an old man." Mr. Davis's sorrowful aaticipatioo is shared in this city, if not further north. All expectation that the Federals will conquer the Confederates, or the Con federates the Federals, has subsided. The exhaustion of neither party is deemed possible. The interven tion of Great Britain and France has ceased to be looked for. The capture of Richmond, if Effected— which few believe —may gratify the pride of the North, but will not expedite the subjugation of the South. The strength of the Confederates lies in no city and no locality, but in the hearts of a people, whom the prolongation of hostilities may exasperate, but can never incline to peace. The only chance that promises speedier results than Northern vie• tory is Northern defeat, to be achieved over Grant or Sherman, it matters not which. The idea of those who see in the independence of the South the only chance for the preserva tion of the liberties of the North is, that such a defeat in the midst of the Presidential con test would lead to a commercial panic and a furious agitation of popular passions, out of which would spring a civil war i n the North. Then it i s arguce l the South might extort the recognition of its inde pendence from that powerful Northern party which in such an event would certainly arise to prevent the further disentegration of the Republic. But Fede ra l success, and t F b e e d e e h r i a l l d victorye become will youth, th e n a ot brin g youth a man, and of 70 wint ers the man grow gray with the burden before the S au tt, w ill learn submission. Th e S ou th can bear defeat. The question is if the N orth can bear it without political convulsion. It would seem, frem the pli g ht o f G enera l G ran t ; from hie hie,. tivity for the last eight days—from the fearful losses he has endured—from the readiness of Gene ral Lce to confront and foil him at any point upon which he may select to hurl his legions—from the well-known though etrenously denied fact that the Confederates in every battle have inflicted at least three times the damage they have sustained ; and from the fact, equally ominous, but not so stoutly contested, that a siege of Richmond might consume the surumer and Grant's army along with it by the diseases and fevers of an encampment among the swamps of the Chiekahominy, that this great ques tion may have a speedier answer than most people anticipated a month ago, and that Grant's defeat, retreat, or withdrawal, is not only imainent from day to d a y, b ut w ill b e followed by complications ar graver and more perilous than attended .the drawn b attles of M'Clellan and Meade, or the rea verses of P ope, Burnside, and Hooker. The indications to-day are that Grant will try another chang e of base, and risk another great battle, before resorting to the lest extremity of a s i ege . Mr. Stanton's curt despatches lead to the inference that the movement has already com menced, and the guarded letters of the New York and Philadelptia journals name th e J ames River as the new starting point of his much-en during arms. It is, perhaps, sufficient criticism 111% SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 27, 1964. Naval and Military liatelligehte. thetas will be Carried out Undei the thipeiintenaence tgCol. Lovell, CM., one of the principal instructors at the loyal Engineer establishment, and a report made to the authori ties of the general results of the trials, Some experiments were also made some time since at Chatham with a new description of ircn pontoon, as used in the Belgian service, the results of the trials on that occasion being deemed very satisfactory, as showing the buoyancy of the pontoons *hon tested to an unusual degree. Another merit of the Belgian pontoons was its adaptability for the stowage of war material as well as its portability. A new pontoon, the invention of Capt. Fowke, Royal Engineers,has also been under the notice of the authorities, and several experiments have been made with the intention, With, oh the Whole, highly satisfactory results. The object of the trials which are ordered to be made is to enable the authorities to decide upon the best possible pontoon for use in the English service, and with this view the claim of the several inventions will be fairly tested. Since the removal of the pontoon practising-ground at Chatham from St. Mary's Creek to the opposite side of the harbour, near Upnor Castle, to enable the dockyard extension works to be proceeded with, increased facilities are given the officers and men of the Royal Engineers to carry on their experiments. The following appointments have been made at the Admiralty :--Lieut. Henry St. L. B. Palliser, to the Racer —Sub-Lieut. Alex. P. Hastings, to the Aurora—Edward Lilley, engineer, to the Cordelia—Mark Lambert, engineer, to the Racer—Francis T. Elliott, to the Fawn—Edward Ramsay and Charles Boddington, assist,-engineers, to the Cordelia—Thos. Summers (B) and Chas. J. Edge, assist,- engineers, to the Racer—John Hancock (a) and Samson Gandry, assist.-engineer, to the Fawn—John Shepherd, assist.-clerk, to the Formidable as supernumerary—Com mander J. B. Grove and Commander T. D. Williams, to be inspecting commanders in the Coastguard—James Evans, midshipman, to the Edgar—David Nesmith, nominated to a naval cadetship—J. W. Lishman, paymaster, to the Fawn —A. D. M'Arthur, paymaster additional to the Pembroke —D. Robb, promoted to chief engineer, and appointed to the Cumberland for the Serpent—J. Rollinson, promoted to chief engineer, and appointed to the Cumberland for the Terrible —John Downes, promoted to chief engineer and discharged on half. p a y—John P, Allen, promoted to acting chief engineer, and reappointed to the Harrier—Matthew Murray, engineer, to the Excellent for the Stork—and J. C. Gray, engineer, to the Cumberland for the Bulldog. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, RHYMNEY. debentures; anthotizing the shareholderstopay up any cumber of the shares in fall, for which they would be allowed 6 per cent per annttral and re-electing the retiring directors and auditors. On the motion of Mr G. SICEWA.RD, a vote of thanks to the chairman and directors was passed unanimously, and the proceedings concluded with thanks to Mr Wilson for hie statement, SPIRIT OF T 1 Ammo JOURNALS. THE SPECTATOR" ON THE COMING WAR.--. The Conference which ought never to have met has risen, and the possibilities of peace are slipping away by hottra. One more formal meeting takes place to-day, and then the plenipotentiaries sum moned, to register and legali2e an act of armed spoliation disperse to countries more deeply em bittered than they were before the assemblage, ':Throughout the negotiations every country en gaged has maintained the attitude which it had assumed in war; Prussia, insolent, unreasoning, and aggressive; Austria courteous in seemieg, but following steadily Herr von Bismark's lead ; Den mark complaining, and moderate up to a point, but pressed beyond that, hard as iron, or as the op pressed are apt to be; Russia unintelligible; France watchful; and England, conciliatory to the verge, or over the verge, of national humiliation. After surrendering the treaty of 1852, which England her self prepared, after giving up Holstein and selling Lauenburg, after offering one large slice of the country whose integrity he was bound to defend, after compelling his unhappy ally to abandon the boundary of a thousand years, and suggesting that she might live without a defensible frontier, Earl Russell made hie final effort in favour of peace and accepted a crowning humiliation. He abandoned his own ultimatum, the line of the Schlei, and by agreeing to an award of any boundary between the Dennewerke and Apenrade, agreed to place purely Danish population under the rule of their foes. Even that shameful concession was rejected, eagerly by Prussia, reluctantly by Austria, despairingly by Denmark, and the❑ at last the uselessness of the Conference became clear even to the diplomatic mind, and it remained only to decide whether Ger many should carry out the design which she has pursued all along, and Denmark ceases to exist, or England should declare that concession being ex hausted,she was prepared to defend the right of small nations to exist by arms. Then at last the thesis maintained from the first by Earl Grey alone among politicians, and the Spectator alone among journals, was felt to be true. Had England from the first preferred her honour and her policy to her comfort and the surplus, had :she counselled the formal re nunciation of Holstein, and sant 20,000 men to the Dannewerke, the war would never have broken out, and with Holstein assigned to Germany and Lauenburg to Prussia, the Danes might have remained the guaranteed end independent masters of all that is truly theirs, the Peninsula north of the river which before Latin ceased to be a co,- loquial tongue was described as the Scandinavian frontier, THE EXAMINER ON THE BALLOT.—Lord Pal merton is mistaken in supposing that Mr. F. Ber keley regards the right of voting as a personal right which may be exercised for the private benefit of the individual. The suffrage should neither be turned to private gain nor to private detriment, and it is to guard against the latter wrong that the protection of the Ballot is demanded. And it is a notorious fact that for want of protection great numbers of the class of ten-pound househo:ders in trade take care to disqualify themselves, and avoid the register as they would avoid the loss of custom and the displeasure of all persons who have the power of injuring them. Lord Palmer ston's objections to the ballot would be all sound if independence were the common condition of the people of this country, if men always chose their parties from conviction, and in conformity with them went boldly to the hustings and deli vered honest votes. But every one knows that such is not the case, and that where bribery and intimidation prevail there is a corre sponding false show of opinion to save the shame of the corrupted or the bullied. The voter against his will is made a hypocrite, and wears with the badge of party in whose ser vice he is prt seed a pretence of the opinions belong ing to it. He cannot for very shame avow Radical principles, and go and vote for an ultra-Tory can didate. He delivers a false enffruge in conformity with lying professions. Lord Palmerston ignores all this, and holds— In this country, I maintain that a man is proud of his party. He may be thought right or wrong by his neigh bours, but I do not believe that, when he has been enlisted under the banner of one candidate or the other, he is not proud of the side he has taken. So far from wishing to conceal his vote, or sneaking with it to the ballot-box, he tells all his friends what he in going to do, and is rather anxious than otherwise that the whole community should know it. This is true, no doubt, of the independent man, who has his opinions, and acts in conformity with them, fearless of any one's displeasure; but how many are so happily circumstanced ? and it is for those who are not, and who have to consider the consequences of the resentment of landlords, patrons, and customers, that protection is asked. The State has no right to require a man to risk ruin in the discharge of a public duty. Lord Palmerston holds that the franchise is a trust, for the due performance of which there must be re sponsibility to the unenfranchised, and with it pub licity. Whether the franchise is a privilege or a trust is not worth dispute, but whatever may be its nature there is no responsibility to the unenfranchised, and if there were, it would be an irresistible argument for universal suffrage. For nothing can be clearer than this, that if the unenfranchised are competent to judge of the way in which the electoral duty is performed, and, indeed, to exercise a control over it, they must a fortiori be qualified to discharge it themselves. To deny them the franchise as unfit, and to hold the classes fit to be trusted with it re sponsible to their judgment as to the exercise,' is a gross and glaring inconsistency. The argument that publicity is essential to a trust is plausible, but not always sound. And in the dependent elector's case publicity is fatal to the honest discharge of the duty. It has always struck us that an anecdote told by Froissart is highly illustrative of the fallacy in question. A poor woman complained to Bajazet that one of his grooms had stolen her milk. Ba jizet called for the man, who protested his inno cence of the charge. "We will soon discover the truth of this matter," said Rajazet ; " cut open the man's stomach, and let us see what there is in it." This was pushing light rather further than justice, for the man was killed in the process of inquiry, whether innocent or guilty. And in like manner the electoral body is cut open to see how things go on in it. rilE SATURDAYREVIEW" ON SMITH O'BitiEN. —The ex-rebel and patriot who has just terminated a remarkably useless life in harmless obscurity was not devoid of qualities which have always been recognised as mitigating the censure due to legal and even moral criminality, and which partially redeemed from contempt a career presenting an unusually broad mark to ridicule. Though tech nically a felon and traitor, and really a mischievous and conceited monomaniac, the late Mr. Smith O'Brfen never utterly forfeited the esteem of his ' contemporaries; and though one of the weakest and silliest of men that ever claimed to act a part in history, he was at no time altogether despicable. In fact, paradoxical as it may seem, it would not be difficult, without the slightest deviation from literal accuracy, to construct a very toler able panegyric on the character of a man whose life from first to last was an absurd and dismal mistake, whose mediocre abili• ties would never have excited notice, but for the stupendous vanity which accompanied them, and whose solitary service to his country was that he exhibited treason and insurrection in a ludicrous point of view. He was unquestionably sincere, dis interested, and, according to his very feeble lights, patriotic. He had the feelings and principles, as well as the education, of a gentleman, and was wholly incapable of a mean or sordid act. As an agitator, he devoutly believed in the delusions which he propagated ; and as a rebel, he risked his life by the side of the miserable peasants who formed his exfremely ragged regiment. He never made a trade of patriotism ; he never sent round his hat ; and while his most prominent coadjutors found sedition a good paying business, Smith O'Brien staked and lost property and position in a cause which he had persuaded himself to regard as that of his country. There was a l wa y s a certain chivalrousness about the man. It is recorded of him that, a few days before the campaign whi c h began and ended at Bailin . gerry, he was all but deposed from the command by a rebel council of war, because rath er (absurdly, by the way) he would not ." tarnish th e f a i r fame of an ancient family by hav ing recourse to plunder and robbery" to maintain his army that was to be. Again, at the most critical moment of the cabbage g Arden have g one on hi s k nees to his followers saidl lowe to rsfrom bu-nin g a par t y o f dissua f d ra e y h , police in their extemporised fortress. Such anec dotes aro often more or less apocryphal, but there can be no doubt that Smith O'Brien was a humane and gentlemanlike rebel, and wished as far as pos sible to make his revolution with rose water. When he stood in the dock as a traitor, he received with entire composure a sentence which he had every reason to suppose would be punctually carried into effect; and he would, in all probability, have en countered with dignity a fate which he bad undeniably merited. It may be confidently assumed that no earthly consideration would have tempted him ,to purchase, by any con cession whi c h h e deemed degrading, the mercy which was extended to him by the Crown. In exile, he honourably distinguished him- self from his less scrupulous companions by refus ing to snatch freedom at the expense of his parole; and he would, we doubt not, have lived and died a= convict rather than seek a favour from the Govern ment which at last pardoned him. Altogether, lhe , descendant of Brien Boroihme had a sort of regalPl about him which marked him off from the mercenary or bloodthirsty patriots with whom an unkind destiny associated him. Intellectually, he was a very poor creature ; as a political guide and leader of men, he was an incapable simpleton ; but he had at least a full average share of the moral qualitiess which, when found in conjunction with common. sense, claim the respect and admiration of tnankine.. What was really wonderful about a character which; otherwise offers little to invite or repay the labour of psychological analysis was a vanity which ap proached the pretercatural. For a man who had had the benefit of the best education that England has to give, and whom 20 years in the House of Commons might have taught to take the measure of his own abilities, there is something astounding in the dull, stolid audacity with which he uniformly thrust himself into positions for which he was ludi crously unfit, and assumed responsibilities which be had not a single qualification, natural or acquired, for creditably discharging. Without a particle of oratorical talent, be set up for a demagogue; and* with the profoundest ignorance of the art and science of war, he headed an armed insurrection against tree British Empire. He was cased in a perfect rhinoceros hide of self-conceit on which no amount of ridicule, remonstrance, or censure could could ever make the faintest impression. COUNTRY MARKETS. NORWICH-SATURDAY. The present uncertain state of political affairs caused the farmers at this market to-day to keep back their wheat samples, and the little business transacted was effected at an advance of 2s to 3s per qr on the full prices of this day sennight. In other articles an inactive trade, at about late rates. White wheat. 42s to 44, j Red wheat 38s to 40s Malting barley ...35s to 36s Chevalier barley 33s to 344 Distilling do . 29s to 30s Oats.. 248 to 264 Flour, 25s Od to 26s Od per sack from the miller. YORK-SATURDAY. ----- There was a small supply of wheat at market to-day, in good condition. An improved demand, and last week's rates advanced 2s per qr. Very little barley shown, but the trade was healthy, and former prices maintained. Oats in moderate supply, with a ready sale, at nearly is more money. Beans scarce, and a steady business was done at prices in favour of the seller. Wheat, red 37s to 40s Oats.... lBs to 20 White do .40s to 47s Beans 32, to 34 Barley .25s to 28s Peas ....—s to ---8 Malt, 58s to 60s per qr..; rye, 36s per qr ; flour, 29,s to 32s per sack. GRANTHAM-SATURDAY. Old white wheat, 41s to 46s ; red, 37s to 42s per 36st. ; new white, 39s to 47s ; red,: 36s to 435. Malting barley, 338 to 36s per qr ; grinding, 26s to 298 ; oats, old, 23s t) 265; new, 208 to24s; beans, 34s to 375; peas, 358 to 375. LEICESTER —SATURDAY. A moderate show of wheat, and a steady business done at fully 2s per qr over late rates. Barley again came to hand sparingly, and met a moderate demand at little or no altera tion in prices. Oats a healthy trade, and 6d to is dearer. —New white wheat, 42s to 46s ; red, 39s to 43s per 36 stone. Old red, 38s to 42e per 36 stone. Barley, malting, new, 32s to 34s per qr.; grinding, 26s to 28s; old oats, 27s to 295; new oats, 20s to 24s per 24 stone. Beans, old, 40s to 42s per 38 stone ; flour, 25s to 30s per 20 atone. NOTTINGHAM—SATuRper. A moderate show of wheat to-day, with a fair inquiry, at 2s to 3s over late prices. Barley very limited in supply, well taken off, and late prices were supported. Beans in good demand, at full prices, but scarce. Oats 6d to is up. —White wheat, from 39s to 448 ; red wheat, 38s to 425. Barley—malting, 308 to 378 ; grinding, 27s to 295. Oats, old, at 248 to 30s Od; new, 198 to 255. Beans sold at 38s to 42s per qr. ; new, 35s to 38s. Flour, fine, 29s to 31s; super, 83s to 385:per 20 stone. DUBLIN—FRIDAY. A strong attendance to day. Supply moderate, and an improved demand for both Irish and foreign grain at an advance of 6d on all wheat and Indian corn. A fair inquiry for oats at 3d over late rates. Flour steady, but value unchanged. a. d. s. d. Wheat, white 24 0 to 26 6 Do., red 2l 6 to 24 0 Do., new Barley Oats Do., black — 0 to 0 a. d. s. d. Oatmeal lO 0 to 13 0 Beans.. Bere Rapeseed 0 to 0 Bakers' flour Indian corn Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. .. June —.— via Marseilles Brazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. July 5.4 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. June 29 "'tuna, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton. June—. via Marseilles ...June 27. Falkland Islands.. Gibraltar, via Southampton ..... June —. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton June—. via Marseilles June 27. India (Bombay), via Southampton June 25. via Marseilles July 5. Portugal.... Itialta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton June —.— via Marseilles July 5, Newfoundland .. June 22. Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet June 30. by U.S. packet by Canadian packet June 24. All parts of West Indies, including Chill, Peru, 1 June 28. California. and Briti s h Columbia.. PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE SUN.—Oar readers must recollect the intense interest with which the public received the announcement of MM. Bunsen and Kirchoff's wonderful discovery of spectrum analysis, and the surprise which was caused by the fact that the chemical constituents of the sun might be determined by this valuable method of investigation. The conquests of seieuee, however, are sometimes dearly bought, and the - - - acquisition of a new theory will occasionally compel us to relinquish another which, though it answered its purpose, is found to be incompatible with the new discovery. This was the case with the constitution of the sun according to W. Herschel's theory, which supposed it to consist of a dark nucleus, surrounded with a high at mosphere, the upper part of which only was in a state of combustion, and was called the photosphere. When a spot was remarked on the surface of the sun, it might easily be explained by this theory by saying that the burning enve lope had, by some convulsion, been torn open, and that the dark nucleus thus became visible through the gap. The facules, or wrinkles seen on the burning surface, might be explained by the vehement action caused by a tem perature infinitely superior to any we can produce on our earth. The instantaneous changes of form observable in the spots were equally well explained by Herschel's theory, and Arago had proved the gaseous nature of the Photosphere by showing that it did not emit any polarized light, which it would if it were liquid or solid. But M. Kirchoff overthrows this convenient theory, by declaring that the sun's nucleus, instead of being dark, is even more luminous than the photosphere, because the spectrum formed by the passage of solar rays through prisms presents the black bands observed by Wollaston in 1802, and since studied by Fraunhofer, instead of the brilliant bands produced by the vaporised metals, constituting the visible incandescent surface of the sun. Unwilling to forego the advantages accruing from Herschel's theory, M. Petit, the astronomer of Toulouse, in a paper addressed to the Academy of Sciences, describes two observations made by him for the purpose of measuring the distance of the nucleus from the photosphere. From this delicate tion it appears that the nucleus, which ceased to be visible in a spot at a distal - ice of nine seconds from the sun's limb, was still visible at ten seconds, which by calculation gives for the altitude of the sun's atmosphere a value equal to the earth's radius. Hence, Herschel's theory would seem to be ccniirmed.—Gaignani. Births. BLACKETT.—On tha 24th inst., at Ealing, the wife of H. CA.MPION.-0a the 24th inst., a t R ed-hill, Mrs. Frederick Campion, Esq., of a son. of a daughter. PONSONSY.—On the 24th inst., at The Cloisters, Windsor, the Hon. Mrs. Henry Ponsonby, of a daughter. PEPY9.—On the 23d inst , at Hallow Vicarage, near Wor cester, the Wif e o f the Rev. Herbert G. Pepys, of & daughter. Marriages. COLEMAN —PRICE.—On the 23d inst., atTownstal Church, Dartmouth, Robert Were Coleman, Esq., of Wands worth. Surrey, to Mary Russell Mitford Price, Mount Pleasant, Dartmouth. NEVILLE.—JoHNsox.—On the 25th inst., at Christ Church, Commercial-road East, Thomas Cliff, second son of Frederick Neville, Esq.. of Noble-street, and Barnsbury, to Julia, second daughter of the late James Johnson, Egg , of Cannon-street-road, E. Deaths. CODRINGTON.—On the 24th inat , at Dodington, Glouess. t rshire, Sir Christopher William Codrington, Bart., M.P., aged 60. CAMERON.—On the 24th inst., at 22, Ecoleston-square, Anne Louisa, eldest daughter of the late Donald Cameron, of Lochiel. ESTE.—OR the 22d :net., at Coleshill-street, Thos. Stuart Este, aged 80. EDGER,—On the 20th inst., at Gainford, Thomas Stamp Edger, Esq., M.D., aged 66. WATKlrts.—On the 24th inst., at Leigh House, Ardwicke, Manchester, Wm. B. Watkins, Esq., aged 76. WEDGWOOD —On. the 24th inst., James Mackintosh, son of Hensleigh Wedgwood, Esq. London : Primed and PO:ll23lmi by WILLIAM ANDREWS of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TitE SUN Office NM Strand, in the Precinct of the 3avoy, n the Cottn.ly of AtitifileseX.—Alonday, Juno 27, 1801